[68pongto]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my Ram Air II engine and have been going through my balancers. I sand-blasted 3 of them up. Balancers labeled 1 & 2 are standard 400 balancers and have 9790840 stamped on the hub and are part # 9790839 for the assembly. Balancer #3 was on my Ram Air II engine when I bought it and I believe it to be an original II or IV balancer. It has no part number on the hub and does not have 2 beveled edges as I read on other posts in the past. I believe it to be part number 9794058. Balancer #3 also has the number 5 and a screw or cross marking cast into it, another difference I read that they have. I also read that the II and IV balancers weighed more than the standard balancers and were balanced more precisely. So I weighed them, the one labeled #1 weighed 3385.4 grams with no drill/balancing marks. Balancer # 2 weighed 3367.7 grams with a drill/balance mark in the side, so it makes sense that it would weigh less. Balancer # 3 weighed 3388.8 grams (the most of all 3) with a hole drilled in the side (not shown) and two drill/balance marks on the front. These numbers make sense since I have read that the II and IV balancers weighed more and were balanced to a higher degree. Are there any experts on these balancers that can confirm my observations?

[68pongto]

More Photos.........

[JSuchma]

FWIW......I have owned two NOS, in the box RAII, RAIV balancers. Both did not have a part or casting number on them, but the boxes did. I also weighted them against a standard 400 balancer and saw no difference in weight. IIRC, the standard 400 is supposed to weight 5lbs. RAII, RAIV 6lbs.

[turbo69bird]

I’ve seen posted somewhere on PY before that the inner and outer rings were timed together and there’s a marking on inner and outer ring that gets covered by the balancer pulley once installed. That’ and there was a purple dye on the timing mark.
Mine has an x but doesn’t have any marks that show inner and outer relationship

[turbo69bird]

This isn’t mine but a picture I found online looks like it has the bevel at least on one side.
Doesn’t appear to have the purple dye. Sadly couldn’t find a picture of the front.

Someone on here must have an nos they can share pics of ?

[71 lemans sport 455]

I have a NOS Ram Air balancer and did the same weigh test a few years back between a NOS standard balancer and a NOS ram air balancer and there was a difference in weight just don't remember what it was it might have been a one pound difference. My balancer also has a part number stamped in the casting of the hub. I have heard they came with out part numbers.

[JSuchma]

The two balancers I had, did not have the magenta { purple / pink } paint markings on them. Most of the RAII, IV, V NOS parts that I have had, fitted blocks, heads, camshafts, oil pumps have had it. From what I can tell no RAIII parts have these markings, only the round port stuff.
FWIW.....I bought an NOS RAV camshaft off ebay years ago that was just listed as a PONTIAC CAMSHAFT. It was not in the factory tube, and I noticed it had the small distributor gear out back and the tail tail RA II, IV, V magenta paint mark. I knew exactly what it was by those two observations. I was the only bidder and got it for $50.
I have used this method for years to search out ram air Pontiac parts at swap meets.

[turbo69bird]

Originally Posted by JSuchma

The two balancers I had, did not have the magenta { purple / pink } paint markings on them. Most of the RAII, IV, V NOS parts that I have had, fitted blocks, heads, camshafts, oil pumps have had it. From what I can tell no RAIII parts have these markings, only the round port stuff.
FWIW.....I bought an NOS RAV camshaft off ebay years ago that was just listed as a PONTIAC CAMSHAFT. It was not in the factory tube, and I noticed it had the small distributor gear out back and the tail tail RA II, IV, V magenta paint mark. I knew exactly what it was by those two observations. I was the only bidder and got it for $50.
I have used this method for years to search out ram air Pontiac parts at swap meets.

Sweet score !
Always nice to get a good find like that. Happens less and less these days but Still happens.

[JSuchma]

I know this is off topic, but I also picked up a VERY hard to find in any condition, NOS RAV 406 square coil last week off of ebay for $150
Stuff is still out there......you just have to dig a little deeper!

[Rocky Rotella]

Unfortunately, on production balancers there were no stampings to identify them. A purple paint swath was added to to the RA II/IV balancer during production, which was painted over during engine assembly.

The only difference between the standard balancer and RA II/IV balancer is the specification of the rubber insulator between the hub and ring, which was "tuned" for a higher operating range on the latter.

[turbo69bird]

Originally Posted by JSuchma

I know this is off topic, but I also picked up a VERY hard to find in any condition, NOS RAV 406 square coil last week off of ebay for $150
Stuff is still out there......you just have to dig a little deeper!

I’ve heard of guys faking those w other coils and I dont know enough of what I’m looking at w some of the V stuff to know the difference. Good to know what your looking at . Knowledge = $ In the pocket and cool stuff on the shelf.

[JSuchma]

Yes.....anything is possible when it comes to rare and expensive parts. This one was in the original delco/remy box with the NOS contact controlled CD box as well. It seems that the, "over the counter" contact controlled CD kit # 1971255 used the 406 coil. BTW, another kit has surfaced recently as well.